Whispers
by dancingpenguin57
Summary: Rey tries to find a way to keep their secret. [Reylo] [Post-TLJ] [Fluff]
1. Chapter 1

"I suppose it doesn't really matter," Rey whispered.

"What?" Ben said, loudly.

"I said 'it doesn't really matter'," she repeated without altering her volume.

"I can't hear you," he called out, smirking.

Rey rolled her eyes.

"Come closer, then."

"Just speak up."

"I can't. This may be shocking to hear, but _some_ of us have some basic human courtesy for our roommates."

"You're right, I wouldn't know about that." He dialled it back, but kept his volume higher than necessary - just slightly enough that she couldn't legitimately complain - just to spite her. "Being Supreme Leader comes with several perks, one of which is having my own private suite and bedroom."

She rolled her eyes again, exaggerating the movement.

"I don't even have to worry about disturbing anyone in the _next_ room, because it's empty. It's just as big as mine, you know. I had the ship specifically designed that way."

She crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest and stared up at the underside of Rose's mattress. "Well, that sounds very nice for you and whatever unlucky person you eventually rope into having to listen to your yelling all night long."

"You're listening to it right now," he pointed out.

"Ben, _come here_ , you're stressing me out."

"They can't hear me."

"I know, but _I_ can, and I would also like to get some sleep eventually!"

He moved toward her bunk and she sighed in relief, shuffling over to give him room even though his un-body didn't actually need it.

"Are you on your bed?" she asked when he had settled in beside her. It didn't strictly matter, but she liked having some sort of context of his surroundings.

"Yes," he replied, in the same slightly-loud tone, but now it was much closer to her ears.

She glared at him, and his smug expression faded.

He finally lowered his voice. "Alright, I'll stop. Good night."

She flicked him a small smile to let him know they were okay and turned her face towards the wall, closing her eyes to prepare for sleep. Her mind refused to settle. She had a sudden thought, and was surprised it hadn't ever occurred to her before. She turned back to him and found that his eyes were still open, watching her.

"There's no reason we _need_ to talk out loud, is there? I mean, the Force doesn't actually need _sound_ to work, right? Maybe we could learn to talk silently."

She was getting excited, but Ben's face revealed nothing. She continued in spite of his apparent disregard for her obviously fantastic idea.

"Just think how much easier it would be, if we could just _think_ stuff at each other. I bet we could do it."

"Alright," Ben deadpanned. She couldn't figure out his lack of reaction. "What do you propose we try?"

"Just… try to read my mind." She didn't know how else to instruct him. "You've done it before," she noted, with just a touch of bitterness, "but this time I'm giving permission. Maybe the distance won't matter. And I'll… I'll think of something, something specific, that I want you to see. You tell me what it is. But don't cheat!"

His neutral expression finally broke, and he grinned. "How could I possibly _cheat_?"

"I don't know," she snapped, her voice raising slightly above her whisper, "just don't do it."

"Alright." He was still grinning. "I will try my very best to get some small glimpse of what you are seeing, Rey."

The first thing that came to her mind was the intense greenery of Takodana, the very first time she had seen it, and she supposed that was as good an image as any to try to project to him. Rey closed her eyes to bring the thought to the front of her mind. When she was satisfied that the picture was clear enough she opened them again and rolled onto her side to face him completely.

"Okay, try."

He mimicked her posture, and for a moment she was struck by the way that his head settled onto her pillow _perfectly_ , as if the one he was laying on had the exact same contour. She chastised herself, re-focusing her thoughts.

They lay there for four long minutes, looking at each other. Rey tried to push every ounce of her concentration into the image she had created, but she kept getting distracted by Ben's face. He didn't seem to share her focus at all. He didn't even look like he was trying. He was just _looking_ at her.

Suddenly his eyes widened and his lips parted.

"It's working," he said, sounding as though he were shaken to his very core.

" _Really_?"

He nodded slowly, inching closer to her. She leaned in too, drawn to him as if he were magnetic. Their noses almost touched, and she had the urge to try to rub hers against his, just to check if he were somehow as solid as he looked.

"I can see your thoughts, Rey..."

Her mild reeled with possibilities.

"...and you're right…"

Huh? Right about what?

"...I do have an eight-pack."

She blinked at him for a few seconds in confusion, only understanding when his awed expression melted into a cheeky smile.

" _Ben_!"

She sat up, grabbing her pillow and swatting it out at him. It flew right through him, of course, and he laughed.

It was a few moments later, after she had paused to listen for any signs of movement from her bunkmates and rearranged herself carefully back on the bed, that she realised she had never heard him laugh before. He still had the ghost of a smile on his face, and she drew in a long calming breath before speaking again.

"Do you ever think about how wrong this is? I mean with you being… you, and me… here?"

He didn't hesitate to answer. "Not for one second."

Rey swallowed. She wanted him to ask her again, even though she'd made him promise he wouldn't. She supposed that made her the selfish one.

His eyes roamed her face for a long moment.

"I'll keep my word, Rey, but _you_ may ask any time you like. I wasn't joking about the twin suites."

Rey recoiled from him slightly, turning onto her back to get some semblance of space. Her heart was beating so powerfully she was surprised it wasn't bouncing her off the bed. He had heard her. And, worse, his nonchalant tone implied that it was far from the first time.

"Always? Everything?"

She saw his nod from the corner of her eye.

Rey felt her cheeks burn as her mind instantly ran through all the millions of things she had thought all of the times they were together. Things about her friends, and his mother, and this place. Things about rain and flowers and ice cream and the Force. Things about _him_ , and the way she felt when she looked at him.

When she turned her head back to him his eyes were incredibly soft, and she felt her blush spread from her cheeks to cover her entire body as she realised that even though he heard all of her ridiculous little thoughts he still wanted her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, as if it would have made any difference.

He whispered, for the first time that night. "Because I didn't want you to try to hide from me."

"I _won't_ ," she said, and was surprised to find that she meant it, "So long as you won't hide from me, when I learn to see yours."

"I won't," he promised.


	2. Chapter 2

Ben watched the proceedings impassively. The men and women before him were graduating from basic training to become full-fledged Stormtroopers. Their Captain read their names and listed scores and accolades they had each earned. It was impossibly dull, but Ben made a point to attend every one of these ceremonies to remind these people whose command they were under, hoping to instil a sense of basic loyalty into them.

He groaned internally when Rey appeared before him. She was supine, hovering several inches above the floor, arms raised. The odd posture was familiar to him now: she was tinkering with one of the Resistance Starfighters.

"Morning," she said absently, her face twisted with concentration as she fidgeted with something above her.

"I can't right do this now," Ben whispered, wiping a hand over his mouth to hide the movement of his lips.

Rey froze. She slid forward on invisible wheels, still on her back, and then sat up to face him. He told himself he was completely unaffected by the smudges of grease on her cheeks and nose.

Her expression lit up with mischievous delight. Snoke himself had never caused such dread to pool in the pit of Ben's stomach.

"Rey…" he breathed, knowing it was useless. He had earned this.

She leapt to her feet and sauntered over to him, bending forward slightly so her face hovered uncomfortably close to his. She was a phantom unable to affect his physical reality, but he couldn't help imagining the heat he would feel from her breath if she were really here. He stared stubbornly into the back of the Stormtrooper Captain's helmet.

"WHAT WAS THAT, BEN?" Rey yelled against his ear. "YOU CAN'T WHAT?"

He flinched away from her, and the company of Stormtroopers automatically flinched with him, though of course they couldn't hear her. The Captain saw the ripple of confusion spread through his men and turned to look for the source. Ben rearranged himself carefully, nodding for the ceremony to continue.

"WHATCHA NODDIN' 'BOUT?" Rey asked, and he clenched his hands to grip the armrests of his throne. He couldn't risk reacting a third time.

She took mercy on him then, returning to the floor to continue whatever mechanical work she had been engaged in. She began to loudly and clearly narrate everything she saw and did, pausing every minute or so to ask if he had anything to add. He didn't.

Fifteen long minutes later the company filed out and Ben turned his furious gaze to her.

"Really, Rey?"

He stood, and she did too. They each took a few steps to meet each other. Ben tried not to notice that she was within arm's reach.

"I do hope I wasn't interrupting anything," she said with artificial sweetness.

"Nothing important," he quipped. "Only my daily briefing on all of the many compliments sent to me from the millions of admirers I have spread throughout the galaxy."

"I suppose every system has a few lunatics lurking about," she mused slyly, "but I think _millions_ is probably overstating things. Maybe just a single million."

"A million and one, if you count yourself," he smirked.

"I don't know where you get your delusions, Supreme Laser Br-" They both froze. She had lifted a hand to poke at him playfully, obviously not expecting to make contact. But she had. The pressure of her fingertip pressed against the center of his chest burned through him hotter than any lightsaber could.

As one they glanced down at the point of contact, and then back up to meet each other's eyes again. Rey's lips had parted slightly, and he was transported back to the first time they had made contact through the mysterious connection between them. Somehow she now looked even more vulnerable and beautiful than she did that day.

With impossible slowness and delicacy she moved into him, spreading her hand so that her fingers and palm lay flat against his chest.

"Your heart," she whispered.

He swallowed to soothe his dry mouth before whispering back. "I have one," he agreed, not knowing how else to respond. _It's yours, if you want it_ , he added silently, like a coward.

"I do," she replied, and his brain melted as it struggled to understand that she had heard him.

He raised his hands towards her face, barely caring that his fingers were trembling and his heart was pounding. A part of him was impossibly, gloriously _happy_ that she could see one and feel the other. But just before the point of contact her eyes flashed with a new emotion. Regret. A beat later he felt the same regret infuse her thoughts, and the jolt it sent through him broke the spell between them so that his fingers fell through her face at the same instant her hand fell through his chest.

Ben sensed that she was relieved and stood back from her, sighing. He watched as bitter tears slowly filled her eyes, knowing that she was seeing the same thing in his.

Suddenly she spun to look behind her, drawing in a desperate breath.

"I have to go," she said, turning back to him. "Someone's coming." She scrubbed at her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to control her features.

"Good," he said, rearranging his own posture and thoughts. "Me too," he lied. "Need to get back to those million admirers."

"A million and one, remember?" She looked up at him with a desperate earnestness that failed to move him. When he didn't reply she sighed. "We'll talk later?"

Ben nodded sullenly, already knowing that she would never allow herself to discuss this with him again.

"Sorry," she whispered, turning from him to greet the invisible newcomer. She sounded pleased to see them, and he hated himself for his inability to block out her voice.


End file.
